18 October has been known as the European Anti-Trafficking Day for eight years now.
Trafficking in human beings is one of the gravest violations of human rights. The personal safety of Hungarian citizens is one of the fundamental interests; and combatting human trafficking plays an important role in guaranteeing this. Tackling this phenomenon requires coordinated State action and cooperation at national and international level.
Hungary makes continuous steps in countering trafficking in human beings. The Ministry of Interior continuously operates its successful National Coordination Mechanism and NGO Roundtable meetings.
The trends of the phenomenon have not changed since the past years; Hungary is fundamentally a source and transit country. The victims are used with the aim of forced labour or sexual exploitation. The main target countries are the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. Hungary maintains close cooperation with these countries to counter trafficking.
The following actions have been taken in the past year in the field of the fight against human trafficking:
Several criminal groups were eliminated due to the joint investigation teams and the coordinated actions of the police.
In March 2014 a Cooperation Agreement was signed by lieutenant general Károly Papp, national chief of police and Mr Sándor Szenczy, president of the Hungarian Baptist Aid. The agreement aims to reinforce cooperation in the field of victim support and to implement programs against human trafficking and targets to take measures to deepen technical cooperation between the two organisations.
The Ministry of Interior takes part in the implementation an EU-funded ISEC project called “Referral of and assistance for victims of human trafficking in Europe” with the Netherlands and Belgium. In June a Kick-Off Conference, Workshop and Study were held in Hungary, which was followed by a Workshop and Study Visit in the Netherlands for experts involved in the identification, referral and assistance of victims of human trafficking.
In 2013 the United Nations General Assembly designated 30 July as the World Day against Trafficking in Persons which is celebrated in 2014 for the first time. In order to commemorate the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, the Embassy of Belarus in Budapest organized a Roundtable Meeting. The Roundtable Meeting was attended by Dr Krisztina Berta, Deputy State Secretary for EU and International Relations, National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator of the Ministry of Interior of Hungary, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary and the Ministry of Interior of Hungary, experts of International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
A delegation of the Council of Europe's Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) carried out an evaluation visit to Hungary from 8 to 11 July 2014. The visit was organised in the context of the first round of evaluation of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
As in the past two years, the Ministry of Interior was present at the Civil Island part of Sziget Festival this summer as well, as part of an awareness raising campaign in the topic of fight against human trafficking. The visitors could gain information about the phenomenon of human trafficking, the indicators of victimisation and possible solutions, important steps and measures to be taken before going abroad to work and the activities of the organizations taking part in the fight against human trafficking.
The office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Project Co-ordinator in Baku, in cooperation with its international partners, closely monitors the counter-trafficking actions in the country and implements a large-scale and long-term support project. For that purpose, members of the Azerbaijan Government and civil society organizations involved in the fight against human trafficking took a study visit on 22–26 September 2014 in Hungary to exchange good practices in prevention, prosecution of human trafficking and the protection of victims.
A Swiss-funded movie called Victoria – A tale of Grace premiered this September in Budapest. It tells the story of a Hungarian young woman who – because of deep poverty and the desire for success and a better life – decides to go to Western Europe to earn money as a prostitute. The picture was shot with Hungarian actors. The aim of the movie composers was to break down stereotypes and the prevention. Free film screenings are held in underdeveloped areas of Hungary where the composers also raise awareness of the danger of prostitution and human trafficking.